I have known Peter Som for 13 years since we were both back in Parsons School of Design, NY. Peter’s designs has always been praised by the professors and admired by fellow classmates. His clean, subtle luxe & all American chic style has set him apart from most of us both back in design college, Parsons and now in the design world. Besides his undeniable talent and taste for fashion, he is also a person with a lot of wit, humor, easy going and simply a great person to be calling a friend.

I’ve seen Peter’s very first collection starting back in year 2001, besides his undeniable talent, he has also worked very hard and able to stay focus on his vision for each collections. Year after year, you can always count on Peter to give us the kinda uptown chic – downtown cool, effortless chic designer clothes you can actually wears in the modern daily lives! People often compare him to be “The next Michael Kors”, but to me, he has his own very own unique taste and look that no one has!

As we all know, to achieve what Peter does, become a house hold name as a young designer that has all the fashion magazine editors such as the Queen of American fashion – Chief Editor of Vogue Magazine Anna Wintour who loves Peter’s most recent Spring Summer 2012 collection and having the A-List Celebrities wanting to wear his creations is very tall order to achieve! But Peter has done it with persistence, drive & believing in his vision.

An amazing moments when young, uber-talented designer Peter Som, suddenly realized that the final word in NY fashion, Anna Wintour, actually loves his collection. A picture is worth a 1000 words. This photo is a courtesy of FABRIC magazine .

Fashion is like the show business in Hollywood, both are selling “Dreams” & “Fantasies”. Each season, designers dazzle us with their creative visions and beautiful collections all over the world, but when the reality of the world wide economy downturn sets in, every designers are effected by it and it has impacted Peter Some starting early 2009. Peter has had a bumpy ride over the years including losing financial backing. But his Spring/Summer 2010 collection, is reinstating his place as an accomplished and talented designer.

He showed his collection at MAC & Milk Studios this year as an installation show, where those with invitations were allowed to come in and peruse the collection as you would in an art gallery. The models stood on a runway broken into three parts and posed for photos as guests sipped cocktails and water, chatted with Som as he strolled through the crowd and talked about the amazing collection.

Peter took his inspirations—Lartigue’s iconic photos of twenties-era Deauville, Hokusai’s woodcuts, classic cruisewear—and wove them together with a sort of madcap thread. The mixture of colour and textures sets Peter Som’s collection apart from many others. mixing stripey tweeds with all manner of prints and off-kilter fabrics, like a turquoise leopard jacquard. He kept his silhouettes soigné but found ways to give his classic uptown standards a whimsical tweak.. For Som it was all about “season less dressing” and each piece is a very special by itself, to me, it’s a very smart move because each piece is a “Must Have” piece that you can add to and mix with pieces you already have in your closet. I think that this thinking could be the way forward especially in these recession times. Peter Som is definitely one to watch. As they say what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

Even with the troubling year, It did not seem like Peter Som held back on quality even though it was all out of pocket. Most designers rely on a certain financial backing in regards to releasing a line each season- Which can include up to 4 collections each year… but Peter Som still offers up a collection that was a collective of Mix Matched texture and color in Undeniable Som style.

While Peter may have left his past with legendary American fashion house Bill Blass behind him, but with the many opportunities such as possibily be the head designer for Tommy Hilfiger & his new jewelry collections in the horizon, we’ll see more of him & his creations in the future.

All I have to say is his Spring-Summer 2010 collection was a breath of fresh air and should turn even the most jaded, black-loving urbanite fashionistas into an optimistic pattern mixing master in the coming spring!

As the year of 2009 is marching to the end ( yes 3 more months till the holiday season, the “happiest time of the year” haha) with the bright, colorful, sparkly collections Peter just shown in NYC, we hope all the bad news are behind you Peter! and we’re all rooting for you! Keep dazzel us with your beautiful designs!

Dolly Parton is one of those American dreams & fairy tales that came true. This is not the typical beautiful princess or a poor girl married into royal family & live happily ever after kinda fairy tale. In fact, it is totally opposite!

I admire Dolly Parton for many reasons. Her flameboyant fashions, great sense of humor and cheerful personality, She sing, act and even has her own theme park ( Dollywood )but most impressively, she single handedly formed and funded the Imagination Library program which provides free monthly books to all Tennessee children ages 5 and under. Also I love and admire her marketing genius when it comes to personal branding.

It may appear that Dolly’s life is all rhinestones and glitter, she often jokes that ” It costs a lot of money to look this cheap! ” LOL!

Dolly Parton was born and raised dirt poor in a one room shack right outside of the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, Tennessee. Music was large part of her childhood. Performing as a child on local radio stations and at the Grade Ole Opry, Dolly incorporated traditional elements of East Tennessee Folklore into her popular music. At age 63, she is worth 400 million dollars. How did she get that rich? Talent baby!! and always believing in herself! (Of course her huge boobs helps also haha)

Well we all know God blessed her with some extra ordinary bosoms!! and her flameboyant clothes, super big hair, long press-on nails and heavy caked-on makeup all adds a special charm to her over the top persona.

Dolly Parton’s hit song, “I Will Always Love You” & “Nine to Five” the song and movie is high on my list also.

Click on the media player below to hear her famous song ” 9 to 5 “, sing-along, don’t be shy LOL!

In the 1960’s, Dolly used her fame to bring tourist attraction to her hometown of Sevierville through what is now known as Dollywood. I’ve so many friends whom visited Dollywood & all rave about how much fun it was! click on the photo below to visit Dollywood official website

But with all of her successes, she has never forgot give back to her hometown & children all over the world by single handedly formed and funded the Imagination Library program which provides free monthly books to all Tennessee children ages 5 and under.

(Click on photo below to see more details)

How’s this made her a class act? If you are aged zero to five, Dolly Parton will mail you a book each and every month! The awesome literacy program, which Dolly spearheaded in her own community in 1996, has spread to more than 500 cities across North America. The first book each child receives is The Little Engine that Could, and then kids can eagerly await their monthly treasures, carefully selected by Dolly and a team of experts, and provided by Penguin Books.

Dolly funds the project herself, through proceeds from her cookbook, theme park, and donors, and through fundraising work for literacy. Head to http://www.imaginationlibrary.com to make a donation, or to get involved. Or, consider using Dolly’s inspiration and commit to some kind of book club for your niece, godchild, or an underprivileged neighbors! With a very little effort, we can all help a child to unlock the magic of imaginations from reading.

She is also currently active in raising money for a $90 million dollars for hospitals and cancer centers in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. Dolly is a perfect illustration of a girl building herself up from rags to riches, and her selfless success is part of the foundation of modern Sevierville.

The sum of all this is: Dolly Parton made all those millions due to talent, a drive to succeed in the music world, and her never ending belief in herself. To me this is a modern day fairy tale!. where the “Princess” is not the typical “classic beauty” but her own unique beauties shines through her sense of humour, bold & driven ambition and outshadowed ALL the disney princess with her heart of gold ! We love you Dolly!

So, now I am all about Dolly now, I decided to shop the stores and find some fabulous items that reminds me of “Dolly Chic” !

Christian Lacroix – motorcycle cowboy boots is so over the top, it just screams “Dolly Parton” ! $2200

Every stylish cowgirl all needs a leather jacket! so why not rock it with

I just love the studs and design on making a traditional boots but have an open toe and cut-out openings!Prada – Cutout Studded Bootie – $990
Gray shiny crackled leather. Silvertone stud detail at black trim. Cutout detail. Peep toe. 4 1/2″ covered heel. Leather sole. Made in Italy. Available at Bergdorf Goodman

(Click on photo to see more detail)

Dolly know to show off her best “assets” ! haha. and most of women all have beautiful shoulders no matter if you are a little heavier at the bottom or not having the perfect small waist, but by showing off your beautiful shoulders, takes the eyes directly to your beautiful face and away from your “problem area” so to speak. so I just love thisDonna Karan – Belted Cold-Shoulder Dress – $1995

Available at Saks Fifth Avenue

(Click on photo to see more detail)

When you look at Dolly’s outfits, it’s never just a simple dress! instead, it’s filled with details and “All that jazz” haha, so this beautiful suede shoes reminds me of all the ruffles, glittery gold & crystals jewels dolly does it best but this could be the “tone down” version of “Dolly Chic”DIOR – Drape Bootie – $1090

Ok, boys & girls, thanks for reading this super long blog! and we hope you enjoy it! clock on the video player below to see a TV special about Dolly Parton! …. and remember….Larger than life is just the right size !!